Celebrating Black History Month 2024

Students had the incredible opportunity to attend assemblies last week, to celebrate Black History Month, with this year’s theme focusing on ‘Reclaiming Narratives.’

Our Year 1 and 0 students listened to two assemblies from Councillor Chantelle Lunt, an educator and entrepreneur, as well as Catherina Quinn, the Education Lead at the Anthony Walker Foundation.

The theme for Black History Month 2024, ‘Reclaiming Narratives’ is about recognising and correcting the narratives of Black history and culture. It’s about empowering individuals and groups to take control of their own story. Our speakers shared their experiences growing up in the UK as people of colour.

Chantelle and Catherina gave our students powerful insights into the history of Black communities. They explained how the focus is always on the slave trade however, this is only a small snippet of Black history.

Both speakers highlighted current racially motivated events and the importance of addressing racially motivated events. They showed how we all need to practice anti-racism.

Our students were deeply engaged throughout the talks, with many commenting on how eye-opening the discussions were. Some students commented that they ‘never realised how much focus is on the slave trade’ and that there is so much more to ‘the culture that we should celebrate and recognise.’

At Birkenhead Sixth Form College, we are grateful that Chantelle and Catherina shared their invaluable knowledge and experiences. Both speakers are activists, and continue to support and stand up for the rights of minority communities.

As we continue to reflect on this year’s theme, we encourage our students to support one another and stand up for the rights of all people.

Celebrating Black History Month 2024